Furious staff at a Welsh university have condemned the “complete waste of money” in opening a controversial campus on a holiday island, after revelations it is now to close following relentless pressure by The Eye.

One staff member at Aberystwyth told us: “Now we know the expensive folly of the Mauritius campus.

“But I bet they don’t apologise.”

A member of the Welsh Assembly, Simon Thomas AM, a former Aberystwyth student, said opening the campus was “not a wise move”.

Simon Thomas – highly critical

The decision to open it was taken at a time when the university was facing other problems at its main headquarters in Ceredigion.

Among the issues was a severe financial crisis revealed by The Eye.

In May last year a former Vice-Chancellor of Aberystwyth condemned the move to open the Mauritius campus.

Derec Llwyd Morgan condemned move

Prof Derec Llwyd Morgan, who ran the university from 1994 to 2004, said the figures showed it was a bad decision to go to a far-flung country.

“The venture is madness”, he said.

Yet officials had remained upbeat throughout

David Poynton – ‘lots of students want to study here’

David Poyton, Dean of the Mauritius campus, said last year: “Lots of students want to study here for a UK degree”.

But the campus was opened as Aberystwyth faced huge financial problems because of falling rolls.

The former director of finance, Peter Curran, had said: “The financial implications of under-recruitment have never been so significant”.

Earlier this year we showed how the then ‘acting’ Vice-Chancellor John Grattan had also outlined the hugely-damaging effect of Brexit, when the university was seeking to attract students from overseas.

Professor Grattan said about 50 applicants pulled out the day after the Brexit vote.

John Grattan – a ‘challenge’

“I won’t hide it from you that Brexit poses a challenge to the university,” he told students during a graduation ceremony.

The former Vice-Chancellor at Aberystwyth, April McMahon, had also hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons.

We disclosed how during her disastrous five-year tenure, Aberystwyth had plummeted in The Guardian league table, which was widely-read by potential students, and fell sharply in the Complete University Guide(CUG).

If only they had listened…

In The Times and the Sunday Times guide it dropped 11 places to 93.

A damaging profile of the university at the time stated: “Aberystwyth has set itself the goal of becoming one of the top 30 universities in the UK and the top 250 in the world by 2017.

Questions are now being raised

“It is a tall order where The Times and The Sunday Times league table is concerned, with the university presently in danger of falling out of our top 100, dropping 11 places this year after last year’s 35-place fall.”

Yet now it appears the Aberystwyth University campus on Mauritius has also fallen.

It seems a shame they didn’t realise that this would happen…

Check your knowledge of today’s events as revealed on The Eye, with our brilliant interactive quiz:

Which journalist told us incorrectly “satire is no defence against libel”?

Paul Rowland

Paul Rowland

Roland Rat

Abbie Wightwick

Martin Shipton

Correct!

Wrong!

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The former Vice-Chancellor of which Welsh university said in an email “have you seen how Chinese women age?”?

John Hughes and Ping Xu

Cardiff

Bangor

Swansea

Aberystwyth

Trinity St.David

Correct!

Wrong!

-

Which Welsh radio station has record-breaking low audience figures and far below the level its Editor said it would reach at the 40th anniversary?

Colin Paterson

Heart Radio

Radio Wales

Radio Caroline

Radio 4

Correct!

Wrong!

-

What is the name of the bar in Spain where the marketing is run by a crook exposed by The Eye?

Drinks at Blanco

Blanco

Bonco

El Chapo

The Nick

Correct!

Wrong!

-

What is the name of the new Welsh First Minister who has not been challenged by the mainstream media over the fact he was in charge of health in Wales when huge scandals erupted and that he has a leading supporter who ‘liked’ a tweet about a Jewish ‘conspiracy’?

Mark Drakeford holds Welsh flag

Theo Drake

Charles Duckit

Spencer Duckboard

Mark Drakeford

Correct!

Wrong!

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What is the name of the street which had meters for every room in our Editor’s first Cardiff flat?

Clive Street

Clive St

St.Mary St

Ferry Rd

St.Fagan's St

Correct!

Wrong!

-

Which was the Welsh hospital where whistleblowers exposed practices where an elderly stroke victim was allegedly slapped in bed by a carer?

Brecon war memorial hospital

Glangwili Hospital

Brecon War Memorial Hospital

Morriston Hospital

Llandovery Hospital

Alltwen Hospital

Correct!

Wrong!

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What is the name of the controversial author in Wales who gave The Eye details of his hit-and-run car crash?

Julian Ruck

John Muckraker

Julian Duck

Ferdinand Rooster

L.L Bean

Correct!

Wrong!

-

Which Welsh university did The Eye first reveal was shedding more jobs?

Student night in Cardiff

Cardiff Met

Swansea

Cardiff

Aberystwyth

Correct!

Wrong!

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What is the name of the Welsh conman exposed by The Eye who lied that he was engaged in a two-year legal battle with the website?